ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will represent Pakistan at the funeral tomorrow, Saturday, of the late Prince Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV who died this week after nearly seven decades as the spiritual leader of the global Ismaili Muslim community, state-owned Pakistan Television reported on Friday.

After a funeral ceremony at the Ismaili Center in the Portuguese capital on Saturday — to be attended by leaders of the community, Portuguese government members and foreign dignitaries — Aga Khan IV will be laid to rest at a private burial ceremony in Aswan, Egypt on Sunday, according to the Ismaili Imamat.

Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini was named the 50th hereditary Imam, or spiritual leader, of Ismaili Muslims on Wednesday after the will of his late father was unsealed, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) said.

“Aurangzeb will represent Pakistan during the last rites of Prince Aga Khan, who passed away at the age of 88,” PTV reported. “He will also participate in the prayer congregation for the departed soul in Lisbon.”

The government of Pakistan has announced a day of national mourning on Saturday for the funeral of Aga Khan IV. The national flag will fly at half-mast throughout the country that day.

Known for his wealth and development work around the world through the Aga Khan Development Network, Prince Karim died in Lisbon, the seat of the Ismaili Imamat. As Aga Khan — derived from Turkish and Persian words to mean commanding chief — he is believed by Ismailis to be a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima, the prophet’s daughter.

The world’s Ismaili community, a branch of Shiite Islam, comprises around 15 million people who live in Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and North America.

Set up in 1967, the AKDN group of international development agencies employs 80,000 people helping to build schools and hospitals and providing electricity for millions of people in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia. 

Aga Khan IV also kept up his family’s long tradition of thoroughbred racing and breeding. His stables and riders, wearing his emerald-green silk livery, enjoyed great successes at the top international derbies.

With inputs from Reuters